Sunday

Value

We are not all the same. We do not share the same priorities and concerns.
People value different things:

A man of Sung did business
In silk ceremonial hats.
He travelled with a load of hats
To the wild men of the South.
The wild men had shaved heads,
Tattooed bodies.
What did they want
With silk
Ceremonial hats?

Yao had wisely governed
All China.
He had brought the entire world
To a state of rest.
After that, he went to visit
The four Perfect Ones
In the distant mountains
Of Ku Shih.
When he came back
Across the border
Into his own city
His lost gaze
Saw no throne.

(Chuang Tzu)

In the first stanza, the salesman attempts to sell hats to people who have no interest in such things.
To them, hats are irrelevant. Unimportant.

In the second stanza, Yao has position and power.
He leaves his city in search of further insight and wisdom.
Upon finding it, he no longer sees his former life as having worth and significance.

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